Improvement in hop-frames



T. D. AYLESWORTH.

Hop Culture: Nei/mam. Patented Feb'. 1 3., 1355.

Ummah TATES .PATENT FFICE, i

THOMAS AYLES\VORTH, OF FRANKFORT, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HOP-FRAM ES.

Specification formiug part of Letters Patents No. 12.374, dated February 13, '1855.

and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, mal;- ing a part thereof, in which- Figure l represents an elevation of a section or portion of one of the frames, and Fig. 2 represents one of the training cords or wires with its bottom and top fastenihgs detached.

Similar letters in both figures denote like parts.

The' nature of my invention relates to a method oftraining hop and other vines upon permanent frames so arranged'as that the portions upon which the vine runs or entwines may be'loosened at their upper ends and taken or laid down to'gather the product and then returned to their proper positions on the frames with great ease and facility.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use .my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawngs.

I first, at suitable distances through the field, plant permanent supporting-posts A, firmly held against lateral tension or strain by hraces B on one, two, or more of its sides. To the tops ot'these supporting-posts I attach cords or wires C, sufficiently strong to sustain the weight of the vines. This much of the frame may be constructed in the most substantial manner, as it is to be a permanent and durable fixture. In the ground, immediately underneath the line of wires C, (or on each side of said line, as the hop-grower may elect,) I drive, at suitable distances apart, the p'ins or anchors a, which may be ot' iron or dnrable wood and provided with belayingcleats or other equivalentfastenings, b, to which one end of each of the Vertical training wires or cords D is secured. The training wires eX- tend from these pins or anchors up to the main supporting wirc or cord C, their upper ends being provided with a hook, c, acting like a clothes-pin to grasp the wire or cord 0 sufficiently tight to hold it in place, and yet be readily unhookcd when they are to be taken down to gather the products of the vine. The training -wires D may have their top ends evenly disposed or at equal distances apart on the supporting-wire; but their lower ends may be drawn together where they are secnred in the ground. This is for the double purpose ot' givingthe vines as they run up more room, light, and sun, and also to spread the training-cords toward the top to prevent the vines from reaching to and running on any other than its own cord, which, if allowed, would prevent the training-cords from being taken down separately in case it should become necessary to pick off whatever of the product may Ue ripened or natured without injury to the unripe, which may be allowed more'time for maturing Near the top of the training-eords D, I place an inverted-cup-shaped piece, d, made of any suitable material, having a smooth surface, concave on itslower side for the purpose ol' turning downward the top of the vine when it reaches that point to preventit from en twining the supporting-wires C, in which case the cord D could not readily be unhooked and taken down. This might be avoided by having the supportingwires above any possible point which the vine might reach; but then the hook or catch would be equally difficult to fasten orlet go. Besides,it would require greater length of training-cord and be in every way more expensive and troublesome, the object being to readily put up, takedown, or entirely remove the training wires or cords and leave the permanent part ot' the frame untouched.

An inspection of the drawings will readily show the very great facility with which each training-cord may be lowered, the natural product gathered, and then again replaced without injury to the vine or the unripe product thereon. When the crop is gathered the pins or anchors and i the training-cords may be housed or allowed to remain out, depending upon the durable character of the material of a which they are composed. w

Having thus t'nlly described the nature of my invention, I would state that I do not claim the training ot' hop or other vines on wires or cords, as this has been done before; but

What I do claim as new, and desire to secure byrLetters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the permanently arranged supporting eord or wire O, the training the iuverted cup d, for turning down the top cords or wires D, leading from the ground to of the vine and preventing it from entwining said supporting-Wim and connect-ed thereto the snpp rt'g-Wire, substantially as set forth.

'by a sprin -hook or its equivalent so as to be readily cor neeted to or detached fr om the sup- THOS' D AYLESWORTH' porting-wire, for the purpose and in the nzm- \Vituesses:

ner set forth. MELVILLE C. SMITH,

2. In combination with the trainingcord D, GEO. B. JUDD. 

